Version 6 of the B Impact Assessment is scheduled to launch in January 2019!

B Lab is excited to announce, following the conclusion of our public comment period, final approval of Version 6 of the BIA by our independent Standards Advisory Council!

Based on the ~900 pieces of feedback received throughout the process, there was an overall affirmation of the changes proposed in V6 and no substantive concerns raised. Nonetheless, there were a number of opportunities for ongoing improvement, either immediately for V6 or for V7. Improvements to the V6 draft were incorporated and submitted for approval to the Standards Advisory Council on Dec 6th and 7th.

Among some of the changes made in the final version of V6, include:

Incorporation of independent contractors, under some circumstances, to be included in the Worker section and Workforce Development Impact Business Model

Additional depth to questions about worker voice to more clearly identify proactive best practices, input and results from workers

Customization of questions to make the assessment more customized and representative of best practices for small and large businesses

Revisions to the Impact Improvement IBM to provide more nuanced measure of how impactful the improvements the companies are enabling through their product or service, per feedback from alpha testers

Additional improvements on the questions and answer options wording were made throughout the whole assessment to add clarity

An explanation of all key changes in V6 can be found in this document.

We are also pleased to announce the official scheduled launch dates for Version 6 of the BIA. All new registrants to the BIA will be able to access Version 6 beginning on January 15th. Should current users who have been making progress on Version 5 wish to finish their assessment on that version, they may do so by finalizing and submitting their assessment by April 15th. At that time, all assessments that have not yet been submitted will be transitioned to Version 6. By December 31st all V5 Assessments should be either Rated/Certified or Transferred to V6.

Version 6 is the result of nearly two years of work and involved a huge effort from countless numbers of people. Our gratitude to all - including our Standards Advisory Council, Regional Advisory Groups, and everyone who participated in the testing process and public comment process. Our goal at B Lab is always continuous improvement, so it’s never too soon to hear your feedback for V7!